Denis Hurley Centre accuses eThekwini of incompetence as electricity disconnection impacts clinic services

The Denis Hurley Centre has accused the eThekwini Municipality of being “reckless and incompetent” after the municipality cut off electricity supply to the centre this week.

The power was cut after the electricity account had not been paid for the past nine months, but the centre stated that the municipality's failure to send the bill led to non-payment.

Dr Raymond Perrier, the director of the Denis Hurley Centre, said they had given the municipality 24 hours to reconnect the power; failing which, the centre would contact the office of the mayor Cyril Xaba directly. The 24 hours was to lapse on Thursday.

“They have affected the patients at the clinic; our food is spoiled and medicine has been ruined as a result of this,” he said, explaining that certain medication had to be kept below a certain temperature or it would be unfit for use while donated food that is served to homeless people has been spoiled because fridges and freezers are not functioning.

He said since the centre's establishment they had been receiving a bill from the municipality and paying it on time.

However, he said that since last year, the bill stopped coming.

“We wrote to the municipality several times; there must have been around 50 emails that we sent to them informing them that we had not received a bill. They did not respond, and finally, they responded and told us that they were billing the cathedral next door. We went to the cathedral, and they said they were not receiving our bill.

“We have engaged the municipality again, and they finally agreed that they were wrong, and they sent out a bill, but it had an incorrect name and no VAT number. We informed them about this, and yet they did not resolve it.

“We have continued to send in our meter readings every month but have not received any correct bills. We have made multiple requests over the past nine months for them to reinstate the bill to the proper organisation, and yet, despite this, they have failed to issue us a correct bill.

He said on Wednesday, a junior official showed up and waved a paper and said she was there to disconnect us.

Perrier said the centre's management tried to explain to the official what the issue was, and she just said she was only there to disconnect, and she proceeded to cut the electricity.

“The issue here is not that we have not paid; we have the money to pay. We set it aside every month and account for it in our books. The issue is that they have not billed us. We want to pay; they are the ones not sending us the bill. We cannot just go pay a bill that has no invoice, as it would create a discrepancy in our accounts,” he said.

EThekwini Municipality’s Marketing and Communications Director, Mandla Nsele, said the municipality does not discuss customer account information with a third party.

“However, we wish to emphasise that all customers, including government departments, are expected to settle their accounts. Where arrears exist, disconnections are implemented in accordance with eThekwini Municipality’s Credit Control and Debt Collection Policy. These measures are standard practice and are applied consistently to ensure financial sustainability and the continued provision of municipal services to all customers,” he said.

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